


be still my beating heart

by foga



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Future Fic, Time Travel, im sorry, this is a christmas gift for myself and all you beautiful posie stans out there, this is so rushed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 18:58:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17147288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foga/pseuds/foga
Summary: Penelope falls asleep in her bed, in her bedroom at school, surrounded by the muffled sound of students still moving around in the halls. When she wakes up, she’s in a bigger bed, in a bigger room with the soft morning light filtering in.(or, Time Travel AU)





	be still my beating heart

**Author's Note:**

> so it's been a month since I started watching legacies and there's still a month left before legacies comes back...and I'm still obsessed with posie.  
> the chokehold they have me on i stg i haven't been this obsessed with a pairing since the disaster from 2016 (you know the one)  
> anyway this is super rushed and probably not that good but enjoy it anyway because it's christmas and posie single handedly saved 2018  
> ps: all mistakes are mine

Penelope falls asleep in her bed, in her bedroom at school, surrounded by the muffled sound of students still moving around in the halls. When she wakes up, she’s in a bigger bed, in a bigger room with the soft morning light filtering in.

She is so unbelievably comfortable that it takes her a minute to realize that this is most definitely not her bed. She sits up, looking at her surroundings and frowning. Definitely not her bedroom, either.

It’s nicer than any bedroom she’s ever had, or any bedroom in the whole Salvatore Boarding School for that matter. It’s nicely decorated, definitely lived in. The room is empty, the bed is a king with white sheets that are way too soft to be real and a dark blue comforter. There are nightstands on either side of the bed, the one closest to her has a phone and a framed photo on it, but with the way the light is hitting it, she can’t make out what the picture is. The door is closed but she can definitely hear noise from the other side, distant singing.

She takes a deep breath and her frown only deepens. It smells vaguely familiar, she can’t quite place it, but she’s definitely never been in this house before.

Where is she? What’s happening? She feels perfectly awake and aware, with no lingering drowsiness from some drugs or spells, so that rules out kidnapping. She’s had weird dreams before, even a few visions but nothing that felt as real as this.

She swings her legs over to the side of the bed and stands up, figuring that the first thing to do is find her clothes. As she moves across the room, movement catches her eye.

It’s herself in the mirror, but not really. The Penelope in the mirror looks older, her hair is the same length but everything else is completely different from what Penelope is used to that she spends over a minute just gaping at herself in the mirror.

After a few minutes of staring at herself in the mirror and freaking out internally, Penelope thinks that it’s time to wake up from this stupid dream. She tries everything from trying to go back to sleep to pinching herself.

Nothing works.

The sound of approaching footsteps puts her on high alert, debating whether or not she should use her magic. She compromises and decides to wait to see who it is, spell on the tip of her tongue if necessary.

“Did you just start getting dressed?” it’s a female voice, a voice she knows too well. It’s changed, if only slightly, but she would recognize it anyway. Penelope takes a look at the woman, leaning against the door frame and her heart stops. The woman looks amused. “Did I really tire you out last night?”

Penelope gapes as she stares at the woman. At _Josie_. An older looking one, but she’s still Josie. She has the same brown eyes that Penelope loves staring at, the same lips, the same smile. Her hair is different, it’s longer, there are lines by her eyes and she’s dressed in casual jeans and a blue t-shirt. She’s definitely older.

Brown eyes look at Penelope in a way that she always hoped Josie would look at her again someday. In a way that Josie used to do before Penelope ruined everything. Like they know her, like they _love_ her.

“Uhm,” Penelope says, still staring. She’s too overwhelmed to do much else.

Josie rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, blatantly giving Penelope a once over. “Hurry up, it’s your turn to make breakfast.”

“My turn?” Penelope questions, her voice coming out hoarse.

Josie rolls her eyes again, exasperated smile on her lips. “Yes, your turn,” she says with a chuckle. “I’m your wife and that gives me cooking privileges.”

“ _My wife?_ ” Penelope repeats incredulously, her voice going a little high-pitched. She shakes her head, backing away from Josie and sitting heavily on the bed.

What kind of fucked up dream is she having?

Josie frowns. “Penelope? Babe, are you okay?”

_Babe?_

Penelope takes a few deep breaths and Josie takes a seat next to her on the bed. She places a comforting hand on Penelope’s back. The touch is familiar yet foreign at the same time.

“Pens, what’s going on?”

Penelope swallows. “How old are you? How old are…we?”

Josie answers the question, frown still in place. “Twenty-nine.” Penelope tenses at that and Josie removes her hand. “How old do you think you are?”

“I’m seventeen.”

The color drains out of Josie’s face, and she breaths in deeply as she stands from the bed and starts to pace. “I thought the whole crazy magical mishaps were over when we left school,” Josie groans, running a hand through her hair. “I shouldn’t be surprised though, if there was zombies and dragons, I guess time travel is possible too.”

“Time travel?”

Josie turns to look at her. “How else would you explain you being here? In my wife’s body?”

Penelope shrugs, she has no idea. It could be anything really, they’re witches, they have magic. A whole shit of stuff is possible, when you have magic.

“What if it’s a dream? A vision due to a spell?” Penelope asks, but Josie immediately shakes her head.

“This isn’t a dream. This is _my_ real life.”

Penelope nods, fully trusting Josie to tell between a dream and real life.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

Penelope thinks for a moment. “Um…there was a witch. She attacked the school, but we defeated her. I ate an apple and went to bed, I think.”

Josie nods. “I know when that was.” Well, at least this isn’t an alternative universe or something. Penelope sighs in relief. “You never really did tell me what you saw when you were passed out.”

“I passed out?”

“For a few hours. The apple was cursed.”

So, Penelope is basically Snow White. Fantastic. Hope will probably get a kick out of this.

They stay quiet for a few minutes, both lost in their own heads.

“So…when did we…” Penelope gestures between herself and Josie. She can’t help it if she’s curious.

“When did we get back together?” Josie asks, her tone wry. “Or when did we start sleeping together?”

“Those things happened separately?” Penelope asks and flushes at the look Josie sends her. “So…”

“It’s better if I don’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“The less you know the better. That way neither of us would try to influence this or try screwing it up. If I had known back then, I would have done everything to prevent it— _this_ from happening.”

The words hit her like a punch in the gut. This isn’t her Josie. The Josie she knows hates her, can barely even look at her. It must show on her face because Josie’s face softens.

“Sorry. It gets better…eventually.”

Penelope’s not sure that makes her feel any better.

//

After getting dressed, Penelope follows Josie out into the hallway, taking hesitant steps. She has no idea what’s she’s wary of, but she’s cautious as she looks around.

The house is nice. A place Penelope can totally see herself living in.

“How long have we lived here?”

“Not long,” Josie answers vaguely, making Penelope roll her eyes. “It took us a while to find this place. You are _un-surprisingly_ very picky about living arrangements.”

“What city?”

Josie makes a face, sighing. “Stop asking questions. And we’re in New Orleans.”

“How’d we end up here?”

Josie glares at her. “We visited Hope and ended up loving it here.”

They arrive at the kitchen and Josie reaches for her phone. “I’m going to call Hope, to see if everything is alright on her end.” She waves in the general direction of the kitchen. “Feel free to make yourself something, if you’re hungry.”

“What about you?”

Josie shakes her head. “I’m not really that hungry, anymore,” she says, looking up from her phone, huffing a little laugh as she looks back down. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

Penelope nods. “Okay.”

Josie leaves the kitchen, for some privacy, and Penelope, feeling awkward in this place that’s hers but also not at all, looks around.

There’s a big calendar beside the fridge, notes and post-its fill it, all neat and organized – reminders to pay bills, a party of a name she doesn’t recognize, a doctor’s appointment, a trip to Mystic Falls.

Penelope turns her attention to the fridge, which is filled with photos, she doesn’t look at them carefully, not wanting to see something that might influence her future in any way, but then there’s one that catches her attention. She carefully takes the picture from the fridge to take a better look at it.

It’s her – and, _fuck_ , Penelope always knew that she would age nicely – with two boys in her lap, both kids are grinning broadly and even she has a wide smile on her face. Just looking at it makes her smile softly.

“You love those kids so much,” Josie says, making Penelope jump. “Sorry.”

“Who are they?”

“Our nephews, Ethan and Anthony.”

Penelope swallows, looking up from the picture. “These are Lizzie’s kids?” Josie nods. “Well, it seems she can at least do something right.”

Josie laughs, like she knows something Penelope doesn’t.

“What?” she asks. “They are way too cute to be her kids…but I guess they take after their aunt.”

Josie smiles. “They think Aunt Penelope is the most awesome person in the world.”

“They absolutely take after you.”

“I forgot how obnoxious you used to be,” Josie says it with fondness and it makes her feel warm all over.

Penelope puts the photo back in its place, suddenly feeling the overwhelming need to live in this future life.

“So now what?”

“Everything’s fine on Hope’s end,” Josie says, taking a seat on the kitchen table. Penelope takes one too, in what she hopes is her usual seat. She wants to make this as easy as she can for Josie. “She actually remembers this happening,” Josie continues. “You ate a cursed apple, and you were out for like 12 hours. You woke up and told her about this and together you found how to fix this when it happened again.”

Hope Mikaelson to the rescue. As always.

“She’ll be here in a few hours to make you go back.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” Josie’s sigh is heavy and tinged with relief.

//

Josie leaves her alone for most part of the day while she continues to roam through the house. She spends most of her time going through the bookshelf that takes up a whole wall of their living room. It’s littered with books and pictures. Books Penelope has never read and some she has read multiple times. Pictures of people that she recognizes and people she doesn’t. There’s a whole shelf dedicated to pictures from their wedding, and she stares at those for a really long time. It was intimate, only their close friends in attendance, Josie looking absolutely stunning in her dress.

A delicious smell and her stomach grumbling take her back to the kitchen where Josie is cooking something.

“Hey,” she says. “Hungry?”

Penelope nods. “Starving.” She takes a seat on the kitchen counter, tapping her nails on the surface. Trying to work out the courage to ask about everything she wants to know – where do they work, where does MG live, why isn’t Dr. Saltzman in any of their most recent photos. Some of her questions don’t seem to have a nice answer. And she doesn’t want to trouble Josie any further. She could only imagine what it feels like to wake up and have a different – albeit younger but still different – person in your wife’s body.

“Come on. Tell me,” Josie says, putting a plate of food in front of her. Penelope smiles gratefully.

She knows she can’t ask much of the stuff she wants to know so instead she says what has been on her mind since she woke up, the thing that has her rethinking everything she’s done since she broke up with Josie.

“You’re different than my Josie.”

“ _Your_ Josie?” she asks, eyebrows raised, and Penelope flushes.

“You know that I mean.”

Josie smiles. “I do,” she nods. “But please, do tell.”

Penelope takes a breath and looks at her, this version of Josie that future her is so helplessly in love with. To be honest, she probably never fell out of love with Josie. And there really isn’t a version of Josie that Penelope wouldn’t fall in love with.

It’s always been and always will be Josie.

“You’re…confident. Louder, if that makes any sense. Steadier.”

Josie is clearly pleased with her answer. “I sure hope so. The road to self-discovery was tough but worth it. I’m happy.”

“Am _I_ happy?” It comes out sounding a lot more serious than she intended.

Josie’s face softens, placing a comforting hand a top of Penelope’s. “Not to brag, or anything, but I’d like to think that we have a pretty great life together. You’re very happy.”

Penelope nods, suddenly feeling shy. She takes her fork and starts eating, just for the sake of doing something. This feels too good to be true, and she really doesn’t know what to make out of it.

She eats her food in silence for a few minutes before Josie speaks up again.

“Okay, listen. If there is something you must remember from this whole experience, remember to give Lizzie a chance.”

“Lizzie?” Penelope makes a face, Josie rolls her eyes.

“Yes, and don’t give me that face. It helps all three of us. A lot.”

Penelope averts her eyes, feeling slightly exposed. Just the thought of forgiving Lizzie and trying to befriend her makes her cringe. It would mean accepting that the whole fault wasn’t on Josie or on Lizzie but on her as well, and she’s not sure if she’s ready for that. There just is way too much baggage there.

Which, she supposes, is why they’re not even close to getting back together now, well in Penelope’s now.

“It was better,” Josie says after a minute, taking a seat next to Penelope.

“What?”

“Us. You and me. Getting back together. It was…it was better. Not that the first time around wasn’t great, but we weren’t ready for each other. We had to figure out ourselves first. The second time around was better.”

Penelope nods, a small smile forming on her face. “I’m already looking forward to it.”

//

Hope arrives a little after dusk, they’re both sitting in the living room, a book in each of their hands. It feels so domestic that Penelope feels her heart grow three sizes. As Hope and Josie talk quietly amongst each other, Penelope quietly retrieves to the bedroom and takes a few deep breaths.

She knows that she has to do this, yet she really doesn’t want to leave. She doesn’t want to go back there, _there_ being where they’re fighting some unknown evil, where almost everyday there’s a new monster attacking the school, where Josie is dating Rafael, where Josie _hates_ her.

Penelope sighs and takes a seat on the bed. She hears the door to the bedroom open, immediately knowing who it is.

“What’s wrong?” Josie asks, taking a seat next to her on the bed.

“How did you—”

“I’ve known you for most of my life. Give me some credit here,” Josie says, smiling slightly. “Come on, tell me. Is this about going back?”

Penelope sighs and nods. Lying is of no use, and this is her wife – her _future_ wife, but still _her_ wife – they’re supposed to be able to talk about these things, right?

“You hate me,” she says, hating the way her voice breaks.

“Oh, honey,” Josie says, moving closer and putting an arm around Penelope. “I’ve never hated you. Falling in love with you is the most selfish thing I’ve ever done. And the best thing to ever happen to me.” Penelope takes a shaky breath, letting the words fall over her like a blanket, making her warm all over. “That’s why you have to go back, so you can experience it yourself. Trust me, it’s pretty great.” Josie places a kiss on the top of her head. “Plus, I miss my wife.”

Penelope can’t help but chuckle at that. “Where is she by the way?”

“I have no idea,” Josie admits with a chuckle. “But she’s going to be so pissed when she gets back.”

//

Penelope takes a deep breath, preparing herself for what’s about to come. Hope is with them, there's amusement in her eyes and Penelope already knows that she is going to give her older self so much shit for this.

“What do I have to do?” she asks, looking at Hope for instructions on how to get back to her time.

“Recite the words like a simple spell,” Hope instructs, opening a spell book. “We’ll handle the rest.”

Penelope nods, taking a deep breath. She turns to look at Josie. “Thank you...for everything.”

Josie smiles at her, that smile that makes Penelope’s knees go weak. That smile that she knows she’ll see more of in the future. “Remember to be patient. It’ll all work out in the end.”

“I will.”

Penelope says the words and closes her eyes.

//

“What did you see?”

It’s the fifth time MG has asked, and the fifth time Penelope has refused to tell him anything about it. She doesn’t know much about his future, older Josie refused to tell her anything about it.

“Nothing that matters,” she dismisses as she watches Josie from across the cafeteria, laughing at something Rafael is saying. Normally, the scene would cause her heart to ache, jealousy to settle in her stomach.

It does, but it’s not as intense as before. Before she knew that there was still hope.

After the awkward moment when she woke up and Josie was at her bedside looking like she hadn't slept the whole night, they haven’t really talked or even looked at each other. Penelope is keeping her distance, keeping in mind what older Josie said.

_Be patient._

Penelope can wait, she can be patient.

Josie turns, and their eyes meet. Penelope can’t help way her heart flutters or the smirk that appears on her face. Neither can she help the wink that she sends Josie’s way or how much she enjoys the light blush that appears on Josie’s cheeks.

Yeah, Penelope thinks, she can totally wait.

**Author's Note:**

> i've taken it upon myself to write as many posie au's as i can...i already have like five started and that's a disaster waiting to happen smh
> 
> but i'll keep powering through because that's what penelope and josie deserve lol
> 
> also hope and penelope are the real brotp and that's that on that
> 
> merry christmas!


End file.
